Fic: When At First We Meet (Dean, Sam, Xander, Dawn, hints of Dean/Xander) PG-13

Title: When At First We MeetRating: PG-13Characters: Dean, Sam, Xander, Dawn, hints of Dean/Xander and a mention of BobbyWord Count: 1,839Timeline: Post-Chosen for Buffy, sometime during season 2 for SPNSummary: The long walk back to Bobby's ends a bit differently than the boys thought it would.Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural. They belong to Joss Whedon and Eric Kripke.Notes: Written for week 5's challenge at spn_btvs. Prompt: Travel (walking) and a mention of flying. Oh and I even managed to throw the phrase road trip in there. And also to meet my word count goal at stilettocamp. Enjoy and feedback's always welcome!

Sam loved his brother, really he did. He’d meant it when he’d said he’d die for Dean.

But if he had to listen to him bitch about the car anymore, there was a chance that he’d kill him and dump the body somewhere in a ditch. There were plenty of them around here.

He sighed. “Dean, why don’t you just think of it as a mini-road trip?”

“Because road trips usually involve cars, Sam.”

And there he went again. Sam rolled his eyes and wondered if it’d be easier to block Dean’s voice out if he walked faster.

They’d been borrowing another one of Bobby’s cars to do a job while he waited on a replacement tire for the Impala. Sam hadn’t seen anything wrong with the tires at the store but Dean had snorted, telling him that that type of logic was the reason Dean took care of the car. He’d then proceeded to explain just why none of the tires there were good enough for his baby.

Sam had tuned him out after reason fifteen and decided to just be proud he’d lasted that long.

This was almost as bad as the time Sam was eleven and his friend, Jimmy, had innocently asked what was so great about the Impala. Sam’s eyes had widened, already knowing at that age that the Impala was Dean’s baby, whether or not it was Dad who drove it more. Dean had stared at Jimmy as if he were from another planet and then launched into an explanation on why the car was the best one out there – though he had, thankfully, left out reasons eight and nine, which dealt with how many weapons the trunk could hold.

It hadn’t taken long for Jimmy’s eyes to glaze over and after that day, they tried to avoid being near Dean when he was working on the car.

And now that they’d lost the transmission of the other car a couple miles back, they were stuck walking back to Bobby’s and Sam was forced to endure Dean’s bitching of why the Impala was just so much better than any other car out there.

He really hoped they reached Bobby’s soon.

~*~*~

If he didn’t know better, Sam would say that the sight of Bobby’s was a hallucination. Something he’d made up so that he could get through the next hour.

But if that were the case, Dean wouldn’t be jogging up the steps and walking through the front door as if it were his house and not someone else’s. And if it were anyone's place but Bobby’s, Sam knew Dean wouldn’t be that comfortable.

His thoughts were interrupted by Dean coming to a sudden stop in front of him, hand already moving to the small of his back.

“Who the hell are you?”

The man turned, ignoring the girl tied to a chair in the middle of the room, and Sam blinked at the sight of the eye patch. He didn’t answer right away, just studied them in a way that suggested he’d seen too much in his life even though he looked like he was around Dean’s age, maybe a year younger.

“Xander,” he said after a couple more moments. “And going by Bobby’s description of what you look like and the fact that he said you’d be more likely to shoot first and ask questions later, I’m going to guess that you’re Dean and Sam.”

“And her?” Sam nodded at the girl, who’d been watching them, mouth twisted slightly. His eyes moved towards the ceiling and the now familiar design drawn on it in a mirror of the one on the floor. He knew by the way that Dean shifted next to him that Dean noticed it as well.

An emotion that Sam recognized as something similar to the expression Dean usually got when it was about him flickered over Xander’s face.

“This is Dawn.”

“Your sister?” Dean asked and Sam wasn't surprised that that was the conclusion Dean had come to.

“No.” He didn’t offer any other information but it was obvious that even if they weren’t brother and sister, that’s how he thought of her.

“Feeling left out?” Now Xander’s voice wasn't cold but mocking and Sam wondered how the guy could just switch from one tone to another without missing a beat. “Don’t worry. She got on a plane the minute we called her.” The smile he gave her was thin. “And she’s not too happy about some asshat of a minion hi-jacking her sister’s body.”

Dean grinned a bit at the phrase “asshat of a minion” and Sam could practically hear him making a mental note to remember that one.

Dawn’s eyes – the demon’s eyes – flashed at being called a minion. “You think this is funny?”

“That you’re tied up to a chair? Yeah, actually, I do. I find it even funnier that you didn’t see this coming.”

“Not to get completely off track here, but where exactly did Bobby go?” Sam interrupted, ignoring the look Dean gave him. He already knew that Dean was hoping to learn more just by listening but the fact that Bobby wasn’t here could mean anything.

“He’s getting supplies.”

“For the exorcism?”

“Not exactly. For a different ritual. He had to get it now since the guy wasn’t going to be sticking around much longer. It’s why Dawn’s still like this. He didn’t want me to perform the exorcism while alone.”

“I don’t know why. That’s what you’re best at, isn’t it, Xander?” Dawn raised an eyebrow at him. “Being alone? Getting left behind?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Poor Xander, ending up all alone while everyone else moves on with their lives. You’re pathetic.”

In front of him, Dean stiffened and Sam knew the words had hit a little too close to home, were too similar to what the demon in their father’s body had once said.

“You fight and you fight for this family but the truth is they don’t need you. Not like you need them.”

“We’ll help you.” The look in Dean’s eye was the same one that Sam recognized from every other time they’d performed an exorcism and when Dean looked at Xander there was an understanding there that hadn’t been there before, one that Sam knew came from nothing more than the demon’s words.

“How sweet. The cavalry,” Dawn said, rolling her eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure you’ll find it sweet when you’re back in hell.”

Sam looked over at Xander and noted that he was staring at Dawn as if that would change things. Almost as if he could sense Sam’s thoughts, he shook his head and turned to go grab the book that was needed.

The exorcism went smoothly and Sam can’t help but feel a bit of relief at that. It’s kind of nice to do something simple without a lot of research for once.

Dawn blinked and her eyes were brighter than they were only minutes ago and she frowned when she saw them all staring at her.

“Xander?” she asked. “Why am I tied to a chair and who are those guys?”

“Dawn, what day is it?”

She didn’t bat an eyelash at the question. “Wednesday.”

He shook his head and his voice was softer when he spoke to her, his tone the complete opposite of what it'd been earlier. “No, actually it’s Tuesday. You were possessed.”

Dawn paled. “Did I...did I hurt anyone?” Her fingers were white where they gripped the arms of the chair and it was obvious that the few moments that Xander didn’t say anything were torture for her.

Xander shook his head and crouched down in front of her, working on untying the ropes. “No. I think it was waiting for some reason before it did anything. Biding it’s time or something like that.”

She rolled her wrists as if trying to get the circulation going again and waited until Xander had moved to the side before standing up. She didn’t hesitate in walking forward and as she did, Sam noticed that Dean finally allowed himself to fully relax.

“So I’m guessing you guys helped?” She glanced over at Xander.

“Yeah, well, you know me and Latin. We don’t get along.”

She smiled. “I’d say you and Latin are definitely not friends. Which is probably why Giles gave up on trying to teach you and Buffy any of the complicated spells.”

“Xander and magic don’t mix anyway.” Xander grinned and Sam paused when he saw the look on his brother’s face as he looked at Xander. It was a look he usually only saw when Dean was getting ready to start flirting with someone.

“So, you’re a hunter?” Dean smiled slowly and Xander stared. Dawn looked between the two and then over at Sam, rolling her eyes and shaking her head with a half-smile. He fought back a laugh and nodded in agreement.

“Don’t worry, I can’t pronounce it either.” Xander gave him a half shrug. “Why don’t I tell you about what it did and why we had to catch it?”

Sam just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes at the look on Dean’s face at the offer. It was a combination of getting new information that could be useful later, anticipation of getting together with someone and relaxed that he could talk openly about what they did.

As they walked into the next room, Dawn looked at Sam, clearly amused at the situation before looking around and hopping up to sit on the table. “So, what’s the weirdest thing you guys have come across?”

“The weirdest?” Sam paused to think.

“Because at my sister’s high school, there was this invisible girl, which wasn’t the weirdest thing ever but it was kind of cool—“

“Wait, an invisible girl?”

“Oh yeah. And once, this arm tried to pull Xander into his locker. And when I went to high school there? The basement walls moved so that it was like a maze.”

Sam stared at her, unsure of what to say. “What the hell kind of school did you guys go to?” he finally blurted.

Oooo, I liked that a lot! You got all the voices just perfect, and a very believable situation.I'd have liked it to go a little longer...y'know, maybe joining Dean and Xander in the other room ;-)And why do I have such a hard time dealing with, and adjusting to the fact that Xander is closer to Dean's age than Sam's??

Thank you! *does a bit of a dance over getting the voices right* And lol, well, maybe one day, I'll take it a bit further. Or write something else entirely about what happened in the other room. Who knows? *g*

LOL, when I realized the ages I just sort of blinked and went "Huh." And then I grinned because out of him, Willow, and Buffy, Xander's the oldest (I can't remember where I read that...I know it was one of the companion books to the show or something...). Hee. I don't know why that makes me happy or whatever, it just does. Anyway, thank you again!

Yeah, I've developed a thing for those two as a pairing ever since I read a couple stories about them on Twisting the Hellmouth. (And grinned like crazy when in one, Spike decided to kiss Xander just to mess with him and Dean got jealous. Hee! Of course, now they keep pranking him for revenge. Poor Spike. LOL.) Thanks hon! ^_^

Oh no, Dawn's going to continue being a trouble magnet forever probably. LOL. Poor thing. I could just imagine how the conversations would go and the looks on the Winchesters' faces when they heard about some of the crap that happened in Sunnydale.

*giggles* of course the younger siblings are bonding over their older siblings flirting! And, of course, weird life experiences 'cause lord knows any meeting between the winchesters and the scoobies wouldn't be complete without story swapping. *G* *applauds* Lovely!

Hee thanks!! And ha, yes! I love the idea of Dawn and Sam bonding and rolling their eyes over Xander and Dean flirting. It's so fun to picture - as is the look on Sam and Dean's faces if they ever learned about some of the stuff the Scoobies have gone through. *grins*